My Sacrifice
by Ravyn Knyght
Summary: Hotaru gets spared from sacrificing herself


My Sacrifice by -- Ravyn Knyght  
  
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""For countless centuries, kings and queens, princes and princesses have relied on knights to protect them in times of danger. I choose to serve this honorable post for exactly that. To protect her in times of danger. Too many times have I seen the woman I love as well as her friends battle formidable opponents, just barely escaping Death's grasp. No longer able to bear witness to what they have suffered by themselves, I choose to serve and protect them. For as long as I am able to, they will never stand alone in their battles. I shall be their first line of offense and their last line of defense. If it comes to it I will freely sacrifice my life for them as they have sacrificed their lives, their happiness for the sake of myself, the ones they love, and everyone else on the planet. So I take up the position as the first, but I shall not be the last of my kind. I will stand with them and hold the line against the darkness, for the sake of saving her, my only love.""  
  
--Allan Strafford  
  
Guardian Knight of Saturn  
  
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"Mama, tell me a story." said a sleepy Madelyn, as Hotaru tucked her daughter in. "Alright sweetie." she said softly and reached for a storybook that was on the nightstand. "No not one of those, a different one." Madelyn said. Hotaru thought for a moment, "What type of story would you like then?" she asked the semi concious girl. "Tell me how the Sailor Scouts got their Knights." Madelyn said yawning trying to stay awake. "Okay darling, I'll tell you the story about the first Knight." Hotaru said as Madelyn sat up in her bed. "It all started before the great dormancy...." Hotaru started.  
  
"Hoo boy! That was a tough one!" groaned Jupiter as she stretched. The Scouts had just finished off another youma. "Is it me or are these things getting stronger?" said a wiped out Sailor Moon. "Definitely! According to my calulations, that was the last one of Grimorah's generals." Mercury said reading the display on her mini computer. Saturn was healing a large gash on Allan's cheek. "I hope there aren't anymore of those." Saturn said, "And what's with you? Charging in like that? You could have gotten killed!" she scolded him for his reckless actions. "Hey give him a break! He saved us!" Venus tried to defend Allan. "I was only trying to keep you from sacrificing yourself. You may be needed against Grimorah. Besides I had to make sure you were around for tonight!" Allan said giving his love a sly wink. "Ouuuu! Big night planned, huh?" Sailor Moon elbowed Allan in the ribs. Allan wrapped his arms around Saturn and said, "That's for us to know and you to find out in your next gossip session!" With that Allan and Saturn walked off arm in arm.  
  
As their date drew to a close, Allan walked Hotaru to a bench in the garden and the two sat down. "Tonight was perfect!" she purred as they kissed under the stary night sky. "The night is far from over." Allan said, his words puzzling her. Allan stood up and knealt down in front of her. "Princess of Saturn. Please grant me the honour of becoming your guardian knight." Hotaru gasped in shock at Allan's words. "What do you mean by that?" she asked him. "I love you and I want to protect you. From Grimorah, the Negaverse...and yourself." Hotaru looked wide eyed at him "Protect me from myself?" she questioned. "I want to keep you from sacrificing yourself needlessly. I want you to live a life free from that terrible burden." Tears started forming in Hotaru's eyes. She couldn't believe what he just said. 'He wants to protect me!' she thought, now helplessly in tears. Her love for him reached a new level, Allan was simply amazing in every way. She threw her arms around around him and kissed him passionately. She felt as if her heart was about to explode, "I love you sooo much!" she cried.  
  
"She's going to be late for school!" Setsuna said as she and Michiru headed for Hotaru's bed room. She opened the door and went in. Michiru saw a sight that made her blush, Hotaru was sleeping peacfully in Allan's arms. They decided to leave quietly as not to disturb them, "Let her have this moment." Setsuna whispered to Michiru who was making a mental note not to tell Haruka. "She'd kill him!" she softly giggled and quietly closed the door.  
  
"So..., what happened?" Lita asked Hotaru as the two waited at the Cherry Hill Temple for the others. Hotaru could only blush while giving Lita a shy look. "Oh---My Gawd! You didn't!" a huge smile appeared on Lita's face. She recognized the look in Hotaru's eyes, "You and Allan slept together!" she squealed out loud. Just then the pair heard lots of whistling from behind them. All the other Scouts heard Lita's comment. Hotaru's face turned a bright red as she buried her face in her hands. Michiru dragged a stunned Haruka towards the kitchen, "I'm gonna cut it off!" she threatened as the other scouts gathered around an extremely embarrassed Hotaru to get all the juicy details.  
  
"Now to get to the real reason for this meeting." Amy said. "Right! Grimorah has challenged us to a fight to the death. Do we accept?" Raye asked. "If we don't she'll blow up the planet." Amy added while analysing everything they knew about Grimorah on her mini computer trying to find a weakness. "So we'll fight then." Everyone turned around to see Allan standing there. Michiru and Setsuna had to drag Haruka away again, "Just five minutes!" she said trying to free herself. Sweat drops appeared on all of the Scouts. They did not want to be Allan when Haruka got a hold of him. A cold chill ran through Hotaru, she couldn't let him fight. She didn't want to lose him, he meant too much to her.  
  
She quickly got up and dragged him outside. "No! I won't allow it!" her voice trembled with anger and fear. "What if we win but you die..." her voice trailed off as she started crying. Allan took her into his arms and spoke softly to her. "If I can keep you from sacrificing yourself then I will die a happy man knowing that someone will remember me. That you will remember me. I will not stand by and let you give yourself up, its my duty as your knight to protect you." All Hotaru could do was cry. Just then everyone fell out of the doorway. Serena, Rini, and Mina were turning on the water works, "That's the most romantic thing we've ever heard!" the trio wailed. "It's too dangerous, you should stay out of this one." Darien said trying to convince him. Michiru, Haruka, and Setsuna nodded in agreement, "We won't let you do it." Michiru said. "She's right. We can't have you getting in the way." Haruka followed up. Allan drew his sword and stepped in front of Hotaru. "Then Hotaru won't be fighting, not without me." Allan had a deadly serious look on his face. Setsuna walked up to Allan and stared into his eyes. She could see the burning determination within him, she knew that this was to be.  
  
"Are you sure?" she asked him. "For countless centuries, kings and queens, princes and princesses have relied on knights to protect them in times of danger. I choose to serve this honorable post for exactly that. To protect her in times of danger. Too many times have I seen the woman I love as well as her friends battle formidable opponents, just barely escaping Death's grasp. No longer able to bear witness to what they have suffered by themselves, I choose to serve and protect them. For as long as I am able to, they will never stand alone in their battles. I shall be their first line of offense and their last line of defense. If it comes to it I will freely sacrifice my life for them as they have sacrificed their lives, their happiness for the sake of myself, the ones they love, and everyone else on the planet. So I take up the position as the first, but I shall not be the last of my kind. I will stand with them and hold the line against the darkness, for the sake of saving her, my only love." was Allan's reply. All of the Scouts were in tears, even Haruka. "So it's agreed then? We all fight?" Serena said looking around. "Alright then!" they all shouted and transformed, then teleported to Grimorah's Dark Castle.  
  
The battle did not go well for the Scouts. Chibi Moon got captured and encased in a crystal shell, when they tried to find somewhere to hide. Saturn was busy healing Allan who took several energy blasts fighting Grimorah while everyone got away. "I have a plan to get Chibi Moon back. Mars, Neptune, Uranus and Jupiter will attack Grimorah. I'll use my ice bubbles to create a smoke screen for Allan and Tuxedo Mask so they can get Chibi Moon." "Alright! Let's do it!" shouted Sailor Moon. As the Scouts attacked, Tuxedo Mask and Allan freed Chibi Moon from her crystal prison. Unfortunately, Grimorah realised their plan and created a force field around herself, Tuxedo Mask, Allan and Chibi Moon.  
  
Before the barrier went up, Allan shoved Tuxedo Mask and Chibi Moon out of the way. Allan was now trapped with Grimorah inside the barrier. The Scouts tried all of their attacks but nothing could break the barrier. Saturn was getting desperate. She and the others watched helplessly as Allan fought Grimorah. The battle was brutal and Allan was being slowly tortured. Saturn couldn't take it anymore, she prepared herself and readied her Silence Scythe. "Come Hell or high water I'm gettin' through!" she yelled but was stopped by Pluto. "No! Now is not the time!", as she and Uranus pulled Saturn back, "Let me go! Allan's going to die if I don't!" She pleaded. "Allan knew and agreed to the risks of coming here." Pluto told the hysterical Soldier of Destruction, "He knows what he has to do, so just let him do it. It's the only way we will defeat Grimorah."  
  
Grimorah stood over Allan's shredded body and picked him up. She got behind him and wrapped her arms around him. The Scouts watched in horror as Grimorah's fangs pierced Allan's neck as she injected her leathal poison into him. She released her bite only to lick and suck the blood gushing from Allan's gaping wound. She sank her fangs deeper into him and gave a muffled laugh as he screamed and she looked at the powerless Scouts. Saturn looked on in a state of shock, 'This isn't happening!' she tried to tell herself, but it was happening, Allan was dying and she couldn't do anything about it except cry.  
  
Allan's face grew pale from the loss of blood. The poison was taking effect and was making his body go limp. His life was quickly draining away, he had to do something. He looked over at where the Scouts were and saw Saturn beside herself with grief. "I will protect...you." he moaned. "Worry about yourself!" Grimorah cackled as she cinched in her fatal bite. "Forgive...me..." he said to the Scouts and drew his sword one last time. He turned the blade in on himself, gave a weak smile and with his remaining strength thrust the blade through his heart. The sword went through his back and penetrated Grimorah's black souless heart, and out through her back. With his last thoughts on Hotaru, Allan twisted the blade to maximize the damage to himself and Grimorah.  
  
Grimorah released her bite and gave a gasp of pain, as Allan's body fell lifelessly against hers. She slowly pushed Allan and his sword away from her, his body slumped to the ground. "This...can't....be!" she gagged and stumbled forward, tripping over Allan's lifeless body. With her fatally wounded, the barrier disappeared, Chibi Moon and Sailor Moon drew their sceptors. "Neo Cosmic Moon Elimination!" the pair shouted as their attacks destroyed Grimorah. However there was no victory cheer after the battle, just agonizing shrieks of painful heartache as Saturn collapsed weak on top of Allan's lifeless body. All the other Scouts could do was cry as they listened to Saturn's desparate pleas for Allan to come back to her as she clutched his dead body to hers. She gazed lovingly into his lifeless eyes and kissed his cold lips. "I'll never forget you my brave Saturn Knight." she said soflty. It was all too much for her to take and fainted.  
  
"And from that day on, the man that the Sailor Scouts took into their hearts vowed to become their Knights and protect them." Madelyn was almost in tears. "Is that story true mama?" Madelyn asked her mother. "Yes darling, it's true. I loved Allan very much and I still think about him. I also love your father and he has pledged to do the same as all the other Knights. Let me show you something." Hotaru left the room and returned in a few minutes with a picture of her and Allan. Madelyn looked at the picture. "He's handsome." Madelyn said. "Someday you'll have a Knight of your own that's just as handsome and that will love you just as much as your father loves me." Hotaru left the picture on Madelyn's nightstand, and kissed her daughter good night. Madelyn stared at the picture and drifted off to sleep dreaming of what her future Knight would be like, and how happy he would make her.  
  
---The End---  
  
  
  
"Madelyn" character on loan from Angel Raye, at AngelRaye@aol.com  
  
Questions, comments? Mail to:  
  
ravyn_knight@yahoo.com 


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